Construction Begins on Native Primary Care Center Expansion.

Southcentral Foundation has begun construction on the expansion of the Anchorage Native Primary Care Center, across from the Alaska Native Medical Center, which will bring the existing 40,000-square-foot center to 100,000 square feet.

Construction will continue through the winter and is scheduled for completion in November 2001. NBBJ Architects, the firm that designed ANMC, was selected to design the new building to ensure the expansion fits into long-term plans for ANMC and the Alaska Native Health Campus. The expansion's design is inspired by Native cultures, Alaska's natural setting and has as its centerpiece traditional healing.

The shapes, contours, textures and colors are the result of extensive research on the Alaska environment and discussions of village life and traditional healing practices with Alaska Natives.

The project is designed as a Native place for healing; the lobby acts as a gathering place for Native celebrations, is a focal point for traditional healing and will contain a patient resource center where clients can find information about services or health topics to further them on the journey to wellness.

The entire building is oriented to provide the maximum connection to nature in all public areas. The lobby is glass-enclosed at the north and south ends to allow the ample landscaping to flow inside. In addition, the windows in the clinical waiting spaces are angled to provide views of Mount Susitna and the Chugach Range.

Southcentral Foundation has planned the expansion for several years. When planners designed the existing primary care center in the mid-1900s, they knew patient volume would rapidly outgrow the building. But available funding at the time limited the primary care center to its current size. The predicted increases came. ANMC was designed to handle up to 100,000 outpatient visits a year. The first year it opened, it handled 250,000 visits; three years later it is handling 350,000 visits. When the expansion opens, the facility is expected to handle more than four times the initial patient load. This large increase is due to population growth and the trend among Alaska Natives to move from rural villages to Anchorage.

In addition to the patient resource center, the expansion also will provide much-needed additional space to the programs currently housed in the primary care center. These include Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Women's Health, Mental Health, Pharmacy, Radiology, Laboratory and a new service called Physical Medicine. Physical Medicine will include physical therapists, acupuncturists, chiropractors and massage therapists. With the incorporation of Native healing practices and Native ways, these services round out a full spectrum of primary care services centered upon the Native individual, family and community.

Southcentral Foundation is the nonprofit health care affiliate of Cook Inlet Region Inc. Southcentral Foundation's user population numbers between 25,000 and 30,000 Natives and their family members. Based in Anchorage, Southcentral employs over 700 people.